Speech and/or language disorders have been known to affect human beings of all ages. Such disorders may result from various causes including, but not limited to, learning disabilities, mental retardation, brain injury, minimal brain disfunction, hearing impairment, stroke, habitual mispronunciation, or physical causes (e.g., cleft lip). In some individuals, language or speech disorders can not be linked to any discernable physical or non-physical cause.
Irrespective of the cause or etiology of an individual's language or speech disorder, such disorders may typically be improved or remedied if appropriate speech and/or language therapy is provided to the affected individual by a qualified speech pathologist.
Speech therapy often entails instructing the affected individual as to the proper positioning of the mouth, lips and tongue when making the audible phonetic sounds necessary for effective verbal communication. The following are some examples of the preferred positioning of the mouth, lips and tongue when making certain phonetic sounds:
For M, B and P sounds the mouth is closed and the lips are pursed in a manner which conceals the teeth; PA1 For V and F sounds the mouth is closed and the lips are slightly parted in a manner which leaves the teeth slightly unconcealed; PA1 For T, D, N, L and R sounds the mouth is opened and the tongue is placed in various positions relative to the lingual surface of the top front incisor teeth, in contact with specific sites on the hard palate; PA1 For "TH" sounds the lips are slightly open and the tongue is placed in contact with the apical tips of the upper central incisor teeth.
It is often difficult for the speech pathologist to physically demonstrate the proper relative positioning of the mouth, lips, teeth and tongue for each of the required phonetic sounds. Thus, there exists a need in the art for the development of a demonstrative device or apparatus which may be used to clearly demonstrate the relative positioning of the mouth, lips, teeth and tongue to affected individuals who are undergoing speech therapy.